OPINION — Last week, Israel’s Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children released its comprehensive report, “Silence No More,” after two years of meticulous research, interviews with survivors, and an analysis of photographs and video evidence. It is a much-needed document. It provides hard evidence to counter the conspiracy theories and fake news surrounding the horrendous sexual atrocities carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

As always, there are the naysayers. In a scandalous article that seems to have been strategically timed to be released the day before the “Silence No More” report, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof countered the brutal attacks of Hamas by claiming that there has been sexual violence committed against Palestinian prisoners in Israel — including the alleged use of trained dogs to rape prisoners.

A Column Built on Shaky Foundations

Beyond the scientific implausibility of its central claim, Kristof’s column relied on reports from anti-Israel organizations — most notably the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, which has previously circulated false or unverified claims about Israel, including the dog rape conspiracy theory itself. His reporting depends primarily on anonymous sources. The named sources it does cite have deeply checkered pasts, and their accounts have changed over time.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not mince words in its response, calling the Kristof column an “unfathomable inversion of reality” based on “an endless stream of baseless lies.” This stands in stark contrast to the civil commission’s report, which is built on official records, interviews with more than 430 witnesses, survivors and family members, more than 10,000 photographs, and over 1,800 hours of video of the attacks and other primary-source materials.

The Pattern of Silence — and Denial

Raza notes that the timing of Kristof’s column fits into a broader, troubling pattern: in the immediate aftermath of October 7, there was widespread silence and denial about the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against innocent Israeli civilians. Feminist groups, women’s rights groups, the United Nations, and many in the media refused to engage with the issue — with some claiming the rapes, mutilations, and other horrors had not happened at all, or that there was not enough evidence to substantiate such claims.

Muslim Voices Who Spoke Truth — Early and Loudly

Raza, as president of the Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism (CMAA), writes that her organization recognized the truth of Hamas’s sexual violence early — and acted on it. As Muslims well-versed in Islamist ideology, CMAA understood that weaponizing sexual violence as a tool of war was not outside the realm of possibility for Hamas.

Journalist Asra Nomani — founder of the Pearl Project, established to investigate the murder of her Wall Street Journal colleague Daniel Pearl — described herself as inspired by the Toronto event and its panel of “brave voices” from within the Muslim community.

The Stakes of Getting This Right

The Dinah Project, founded by Halperin-Kaddari, subsequently published a book — “A Quest for Justice: October 7 and Beyond” — described as “the first comprehensive legal and evidentiary framework to analyze the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war during the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.”

The contrast between this painstaking work and the opportunistic timing of Kristof’s column could not be starker. Where the civil commission report spent two years building an evidentiary record from primary sources, Kristof spent his column tearing it down — relying on sources with documented ties to Hamas, organizations that have previously spread disinformation about Israel, and claims that experts in the relevant field have described as impossible.

Raza’s conclusion is unambiguous: the victims of October 7 deserve recognition, justice, and the truth. Those who would use the pages of the New York Times to reframe, redirect, or erase that truth are not merely wrong — they are complicit in the continued suffering of those victims.